Lifesavers Program

A Residential Fire Injury Prevention Program

Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors save lives every day by alerting residents to potential danger. They are a vital addition to any home. The majority of fatal fires occur at night while most people are sleeping.

A fire creates toxic gases that can numb the senses. When sleeping, you may not realize that a fire is burning. The toxic gases will actually put you into a deeper sleep. Therefore, you cannot rely on your own senses to detect if a fire is burning in your house.

Smoke alarms save lives, prevent injuries, and minimize property damage by enabling residents to detect fires early in their development. The risk of dying from fires in homes without smoke alarms is twice as high as in homes that have working smoke alarms.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is produced when any fuel is incompletely burned. About 150 people die each year from non-fire, carbon monoxide poisoning associated with home fuel-burning heating equipment.

The Richardson Fire Department, as a service, provides smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors to the elderly or handicapped citizens. Fire department personnel will install the detectors in your home.

It is important to regularly test and replace batteries in all smoke detectors. Batteries should be changed when your clocks are changed in the spring and fall, or as the manufacturer recommends.

If your battery-powered smoke alarm begins to emit a low-power warning, usually a chirping sound, the battery needs to be replaced immediately with a new one. This will ensure that your smoke alarm will continue to provide protection.

As part of the LifeSavers program, Richardson Fire Department personnel will also change the batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors for elderly and/or handicapped citizens of Richardson.

For more information about this program or to request this service, contact the Richardson Fire Marshal's Office at 972-744-5750.